On 9th February, Christie’s will offer An Opulent Aesthetic: An Important Private Collection from an English Country House in a live auction. Presenting an opulent reinterpretation of the traditional country house style, the sale comprises 266 lots. The collector’s notable connoisseurship and taste is evident in the distinctive mise-en-scène they created; the house provided a luxurious retreat from the city, where friends were entertained on a grand scale.
Spanning 19th century and Old Master paintings to fine furniture, clocks, porcelain, silver, soft-furnishings and lighting, many works boast illustrious provenance,
coming from important English, European and American collections such as that of Alberto Bruni Tedeschi and those of the Lords Hesketh at Easton Neston and the Sackville family at Knole. Estimates range from £600 up to £600,000. The pre-sale public exhibition will be on view at Christie’s headquarters from 3rd to 8th February.
19th century and Old Master paintings, including sporting art
The top lot of the sale is The Return by Alfred de Dreux, 1859 (estimate: £400,000-£600,000). Sporting art is a thread which runs throughout the collection largely in the form of dog pictures, which were ‘salon’ hung in The Bar. The wounded hound by Richard Ansdell, 1847, leads this group (estimate: £200,000-£300,000, also illustrated in-situ above). Notable Old Master
pictures include John Constable’s Flatford Mill from the tow path (estimate: £80,000-£120,000) and Sir Joshua Reynolds’s half-length Portrait of a Lady, traditionally identified as Mrs. Elizabeth Sheridan (estimate: £50,000-£80,000).
Decorative arts
Among the rich array of decorative arts offered from this eclectic collection are a Louis XV ormolu-mounted Japanese lacquer bombe commode, attributed to Jacques Dubois, mid-18th century (estimate: £70,000-£100,000); a set of three Charles II silver-gilt furnishing vases and covers, circa 1670-80 (estimate: £70,000-£100,000); a pair of ormolu- mounted brule-parfums, circa 1785-1790 (estimate: £40,000-£60,000); and a Louis XIV savonnerie carpet fragment, late 17th century, commissioned by Louis XIV to furnish the Grand Galerie au bord de l’eau at the Palais du Louvre (estimate: £40,000-£60,000).
*Please note when quoting estimates above that other fees will apply in addition to the hammer price – see Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of the sale catalogue.
*Estimates do not include buyer’s premium. Sales totals are hammer price plus buyer’s premium.
